Shocking one-man shows

What happened in Karachi on July 14 appeared a 'one-man show'. With his abusive outburst against Urdu-speaking Pakistanis and the MQM, Dr Zulfiqar Mirza revived the spell of insanity that began to fade after four days of unchallenged targeted killings in Karachi. Three cheers for Dr Mirza!
After abusing MQM and the Mohajirs in the typical landlord style, Dr Mirza 'redeemed' himself by saying that 'if' his words hurt anybody's feelings, he sympathises with that individual. Impliedly, being abused is the fate of the common man but, out of sheer magnanimity, he felt sorry 'for' that.
Dr Mirza's latest outburst too didn't prompt an apology from the PPP topbrass, and as before, was dubbed as his personal view. Impliedly, insulting the adversaries is not reprehensible. Let us hope that his being chosen to accompany the President on his recent visit to Iran won't help interpreting his outbursts as PPP's covert policy.
But if the PPP doesn't take exemplary steps to mend the ways of its leaders, doubts about its political ethics and concern for ensuring peace in Karachi (whose disruption costs GDP loss of between Rs 10 to 15 billion a day) will gain momentum and spur the flight of capital that is already on. Karachi at a standstill implies breaching business contracts, because banks stop functioning and export shipments are delayed. Can we afford this, given the global recession wherein export orders are hard to get and the huge debt servicing load that Pakistan carries? PPP must answer these questions.
Despite its disregard for ensuring this environment, the PPP insists that it must be allowed to complete its term. Pakistanis fear that fulfilling this desire may lead to total economic collapse - a reflection thereof is the resignation of the Governor SBP on policy differences - the third Governor to quit in three years.
The drop in foreign direct investment for the third consecutive year, ODGC's failure to float convertible bonds worth just $0.5 billion on exchanges abroad, and IMF's reluctance to disburse the last tranche under the standby agreement it signed in 2008 reflect the damage done by the regime to Pakistan's image abroad.
This governance mess that threatens democracy yet again owes itself to the 'pro-democracy' political parties in Sindh that opted to re-impose the administrative systems contrived during the Ayub and Zia dictatorial regimes and the British Raj, and betrayed their 'vision' and governing abilities.
These actions, that wrapped up the elected local government, defy democratic values and portray a lust for power to rule in a repressive, not democratic style. That this is the truth is borne out by the regime's repeated acts of defying the verdicts issued by the highest courts of the country.
Hopefully, the rank and file of the political parties are not as insensitive and self-centred as portrayed by their parties. More likely, these outfits have become one-man shows - armies led by the 'know-alls' who rule supreme and don't believe in the democracy that they publicly adore.
No wonder the state policies lack vision, rationality and equity. Instead, they aim to serve vested interests and are therefore rejected out rightly by the stakeholders while the corrupt in the state administration are shielded, not punished. Remember the shocking disclosures by the Auditor General?
In the case seeking re-instatement of FIA's Zafar Qureshi alone, the state repeatedly defied the Supreme Court despite being told to mend its ways. By the time this script went to the press, there were no indications that the state (or the office-bearer behind this defiance) will comply with court instructions.
This ruling psyche is pushing Pakistan into an irretrievable state. What Pakistanis admire (though bafflingly) is the patience being exhibited by the judiciary while the government's defiance of the law touches a new height, virtually every day - a continuum that is shaking peoples' faith in the state as a whole.
The economy is headed for a collapse, courtesy concerted efforts at twisting the administrative and financial policy frameworks with lethal impact on the sentiments for saving, investing, and expanding the economy to absorb the millions that are joining the ranks of the jobless.
The energy of the jobless who are adopting destructive modes of protest is portrayed by the damage caused to Pakistan's collapsing physical infrastructure - markets, shopping centres, houses, factories, transport vehicles and power transmission networks - in a matter of minutes. Can't this energy be put to productive use?
This chaos owes itself to the systematic sidelining of the basic human values, and in recent decades, educational systems and institutions played their role in corrupting the human psychology; they now churn out individuals who tend to compromise on principles too easily.
The key human value sidelined was co-existence - accepting that the resources on this planet must be 'shared' with the rest of humanity, not grabbed to enrich a few. This feudal mindset - its crudest forms manifested in South Asia - has become universal triggering widespread dissent.
Beginning the 1970s, the US started inculcating this mindset when US universities began promoting new profiles of 'competition' and of being 'smart'; both implied 'decimating' the adversary, which created the too-big-to-fail corporations out of aggressive mergers.
In politics, the view the US promoted was "either you are with us or against us". Impliedly, "you have no option; just follow 'us' because we can destroy you". This is also the profile of the political dialogue in Pakistan, which now has the most pro-US regime in the country's history.
Our self-centred political parties lack rationality, compassion, and a commitment to pulling Pakistan out of the mess it is now in because they have become one-man shows. The driver of this reckless trend is the absence of democracy (that they all claim to practice) within party ranks.
The landlord-led democracy is headed for failure yet again. For the democracy lovers (who defend it as a fashion ignoring the historical evidence, including in the West) it is time to plead for a regime that will first create a just, rational and free environment for the sustained survival of democracy, and then install democracy.
The system that permitted fake degree holders with questionable track records to contest elections in 2008 and be elected courtesy grossly flawed electoral rolls, allowed these one-man shows to govern Pakistan in the garb of democracy needs an overhaul. Elections must not become the crane that lifts the rogues to the top.